Many players must have discovered such a phenomenon, that is, games in recent years always like to use triple-A level production to promote themselves. At first, it was basically a stand-alone game, and then even some mobile games began to call themselves triple-A games, as if as long as the triple-A level was marked, the game's grade could be raised by a notch. So is there any basis for the name of triple-A game, and what is its judging criteria?
In fact, I myself have inquired about the definition of triple-A games, but unfortunately I have not been able to find the person who proposed it, and there is no authoritative standard for judging the standard of triple-A games so far. However, there is an explanation that players agree with, in which the 3 A's in the triple-A game represent the following 3 meanings:
A lot of money: refers to the need to spend a lot of capital costs in the development process of the game, such as the well-known "Cyberpunk 2077", "GTA5", "Red Dead Redemption 2" and other games, the development funds are hundreds of millions of dollars, even other less exaggerated triple-A games are at least tens of millions of dollars in development costs, and the investment is quite huge.
A lot of resources: This means that the content in the game will be very large, whether it is the size of the map, the number of missions, and the variety of gameplay, it is far beyond the average game. If the player wants to clear the level seriously, then it will basically take dozens of hours at the earliest, and as for the full clearance of the branches, it is impossible to achieve all the achievements without hundreds of hours of game time.
A lot of time: This refers to the fact that the development cycle of this type of game can be very long, usually starting in 4 or 5 years, and a game of the size of Red Dead Redemption 2 takes 8 years for a development team of thousands of people to complete. For other triple-A games, the minimum development team size is more than 100 people, and the shortest development time is more than 3 years.
Through the most agreed explanation by players, we can see that 3A games generally refer to those single-player games with large investment and large volume, and their common characteristics are good graphics, many game contents, and huge game maps, which can give players a very shocking first impression.
This can also understand why today's games have to call themselves triple-A games, because in this way, you can set up a tall game impression for players, and players will think that since your game calls itself a triple-A game, then the quality will definitely not be bad. But as a veteran player who has been playing games for more than 20 years, I think that instead of being a good thing, moving closer to triple-A games is likely to backfire in the end.
A triple-A game is not the same as a fun game
Many players, including many game developers, feel that triple-A games must be fun and will be welcomed by players. At first, I thought so, after all, the graphics and character modeling of triple-A games are top-notch, which can make players have a good first impression. But after playing more so-called triple-A masterpieces over the years, I changed my mind.
Over the years, there have been too many so-called 3A masterpieces that give me the feeling that they are empty and have no nutrition, they do have excellent graphics, the game map is also very large, and the game sound effects are good, but the most important point has been lost, which is the playability of the game. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series and Far Cry series, for example, are undoubtedly excellent in terms of graphics, sound, maps, and character modeling, but many players say they don't want to play these games after a few hours because they're too boring.
The same is true of my own feelings after playing.,In fact, it's not just the "Assassin's Creed" series.,A lot of so-called 3A game graphics are really good.,The game map is also large.,In the first few hours of the game, I can give me a good experience.,But if you play it again, you'll find that in fact, the game content of the novice village is already all.,The game content and gameplay after that are basically the same as the first few hours.。 For example, in many games, it seems that the map is divided into many areas, but the gameplay of each area is similar, nothing more than fighting the same stronghold, collecting similar task props, etc., and even more lazy games design each stronghold exactly the same, and it looks like it is copied and pasted.
This kind of blind pursuit of visual stimulation,For the most important part of the game but perfunctory approach,In my opinion, it's an act of putting the cart before the horse.,But many of the so-called 3A masterpieces are now this problem.,The production team spends all their energy on how to make the game picture look more realistic.,For whether it's fun or not,Whether the game content is too repetitive doesn't care at all.。
Triple-A games are too risky, and if you are not careful, you will lose all the games
My biggest concern about triple-A games is that the risks are too great, and players who care about game news must know that the current development cost of triple-A games is often tens of millions, and the time it takes is 3 years to start, and it is normal to take 6 or 7 years for a longer time. If players are not satisfied with the quality of the game, it means that all the years of development funds, time and energy have been wasted, and the game series will be over, and the game production team will have to be disbanded.
Take my favorite game, Bioware, for example, the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series that they have developed are all games that I love very much, and they are also the most classic RPG series in gaming history. However, due to the overturn of the next two games, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" and "Anthem", the entire game company has not been able to develop new games so far. I'm still nostalgic for Mass Effect 2 from more than a decade ago, and the new game is still far away.
To put it bluntly, the current triple-A game is a big gamble, and if you win the bet, both game sales and game reputation will increase significantly, just like "Elden Ring", which has made souls games from a relatively niche game to the most popular game genre at present. But if you lose the bet, like my favorite Mass Effect series, so far there is no shadow in the new work. This kind of high risk is also the last thing players want to accept, because no one wants to see their favorite game suddenly say no.
The essence of the game is always fun, don't let the triple-A masterpiece become a gimmick
In fact, the most important thing about the game is that it is fun, just like Nintendo's games, games like 2D Mario may not be called triple-A games, and there are no realistic graphics, but it is just fun, it is fun, whether it is a teenager or an adult in his thirties like me, he will involuntarily indulge in it and can't stop. On the other hand, I actually got tired of playing a lot of 3A masterpieces at the beginning, and I never opened the game after turning it off.
For us players, the essence of the game is still gameplay, in fact, it really doesn't matter if the graphics are good or not, otherwise why do so many people have to reminisce about old games from time to time. But the title of 3A masterpiece has now become a gimmick to induce players into the pit, fortunately, our players are not stupid now, and they no longer buy those games that are vain, only really fun, and games with heart can finally gain word of mouth.